$160 an hour seems steep cost for records

Published: Friday, March 4, 2011 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 8:55 p.m.

Public records may be public but they're not necessarily cheap or easy to get.

The Herald-Tribune just paid $800 for records concerning the arbitration case of Nadia Kashitskaya, the North Port 911 operator who was fired for failing to send help to a crash victim.

For the $800, the newspaper received about 1,500 pages of depositions, contracts and other materials. An article based on those records ran Tuesday.

The $800 was actually a discount for the newspaper. But before you praise city attorney Rob Robinson for his generosity, consider this:

Robinson also asked North Port taxpayers to pay for the newspaper's request. According to a bill submitted to City Hall in January, Robinson and his Sarasota firm, Nelson Hesse, collected an additional $3,986 from the city coffers for a run-of-the-mill public records request.

That's because in this case the city has relinquished its role as record keeper to a hired gun, or outside counsel.

Robinson is dubbed city attorney, but he's not a city employee; he's a private vendor. The city pays him $160,000 a year to be available for routine legal business. Robinson and his firm charge $160 an hour for any extra work, which has lately added up to some $1 million a year.

One would assume that producing public records would fall under the "routine" category. Apparently not.

According to Robinson's breakdown, it took three attorneys 30 hours, eight conferences and 10 reviews over two weeks to produce the papers that were already in their possession.

There was nothing unusually complex or sensitive to review. Before handing over the documents, someone had to black out Social Security numbers, some medical information and a few other odds and ends.

Anyone with the high IQ and sharp memory Robinson claimed to possess in an interview with reporters should have been able to locate that information within minutes.

The bills, and Robinson's justification for them, were unusual enough to provoke a two-page letter of protest from the Herald-Tribune's counsel to acting city manager Terry Lewis.

"... It is hard to imagine why a citizen requester would have to pay expensive outside-firm fees for such administrative or clerical tasks as 'gather emails,' 'retrieve records,' and 'draft email to (reporter)' -- all routine tasks for which no charge, let alone high hourly law-firm rates, should be charged," the newspaper's attorney wrote.

As an interesting comparison, on Tuesday North Port reporter John Davis requested the personnel file of Kevin Vespia, who was just named police chief.

One city clerk took four hours to redact the same type of personal information that was blacked out in the Kashitskaya case.

The file was 800 to 900 pages. And the city, which is generally responsive and cooperative in releasing public documents, did not charge for it.

And even if they had charged, which is their right, the bill would have been at the hourly rate of the city clerk. I imagine she makes a lot less than $160 an hour.

In the past, the city commissioners have been reluctant to question Robinson's bills or strategies.

For instance, he has steered the commission to push code enforcement cases into court, where residents have faced losing their homes over minor violations that accumulated fines exceeding $100,000.

Not only have those cases generated bad publicity for the city, but the cost of paying Robinson to pursue them has greatly outweighed the fines they've collected. Even so, the city continues to prosecute several.

City Commissioner Tom Jones looked into the Kashitskaya public records invoices. "They don't look like they're unreasonable billings to me," he concluded. Jones says Robinson has the responsibility to respond to public records requests, "so what we have is a dispute over the price."

Well, yes. That's the point. When the price to obtain a public record becomes unreasonable, it mocks the open government law.

Even if state law allowed Robinson to charge $160 an hour to prepare a public document for release -- and that's certainly arguable -- there's nothing that says he has to, or that he should.

And, nothing says that the City Commission has to let him get away with it.

<p>Public records may be public but they're not necessarily cheap or easy to get.</p><p>The Herald-Tribune just paid $800 for records concerning the arbitration case of Nadia Kashitskaya, the North Port 911 operator who was fired for failing to send help to a crash victim.</p><p>For the $800, the newspaper received about 1,500 pages of depositions, contracts and other materials. An article based on those records ran Tuesday.</p><p>The $800 was actually a discount for the newspaper. But before you praise city attorney Rob Robinson for his generosity, consider this:</p><p>Robinson also asked North Port taxpayers to pay for the newspaper's request. According to a bill submitted to City Hall in January, Robinson and his Sarasota firm, Nelson Hesse, collected an additional $3,986 from the city coffers for a run-of-the-mill public records request.</p><p>That's because in this case the city has relinquished its role as record keeper to a hired gun, or outside counsel.</p><p>Robinson is dubbed city attorney, but he's not a city employee; he's a private vendor. The city pays him $160,000 a year to be available for routine legal business. Robinson and his firm charge $160 an hour for any extra work, which has lately added up to some $1 million a year.</p><p>One would assume that producing public records would fall under the "routine" category. Apparently not.</p><p>According to Robinson's breakdown, it took three attorneys 30 hours, eight conferences and 10 reviews over two weeks to produce the papers that were already in their possession.</p><p>There was nothing unusually complex or sensitive to review. Before handing over the documents, someone had to black out Social Security numbers, some medical information and a few other odds and ends.</p><p>Anyone with the high IQ and sharp memory Robinson claimed to possess in an interview with reporters should have been able to locate that information within minutes.</p><p>The bills, and Robinson's justification for them, were unusual enough to provoke a two-page letter of protest from the Herald-Tribune's counsel to acting city manager Terry Lewis.</p><p>"... It is hard to imagine why a citizen requester would have to pay expensive outside-firm fees for such administrative or clerical tasks as 'gather emails,' 'retrieve records,' and 'draft email to (reporter)' -- all routine tasks for which no charge, let alone high hourly law-firm rates, should be charged," the newspaper's attorney wrote.</p><p>As an interesting comparison, on Tuesday North Port reporter John Davis requested the personnel file of Kevin Vespia, who was just named police chief.</p><p>One city clerk took four hours to redact the same type of personal information that was blacked out in the Kashitskaya case.</p><p>The file was 800 to 900 pages. And the city, which is generally responsive and cooperative in releasing public documents, did not charge for it.</p><p>And even if they had charged, which is their right, the bill would have been at the hourly rate of the city clerk. I imagine she makes a lot less than $160 an hour.</p><p>In the past, the city commissioners have been reluctant to question Robinson's bills or strategies.</p><p>For instance, he has steered the commission to push code enforcement cases into court, where residents have faced losing their homes over minor violations that accumulated fines exceeding $100,000.</p><p>Not only have those cases generated bad publicity for the city, but the cost of paying Robinson to pursue them has greatly outweighed the fines they've collected. Even so, the city continues to prosecute several.</p><p>City Commissioner Tom Jones looked into the Kashitskaya public records invoices. "They don't look like they're unreasonable billings to me," he concluded. Jones says Robinson has the responsibility to respond to public records requests, "so what we have is a dispute over the price."</p><p>Well, yes. That's the point. When the price to obtain a public record becomes unreasonable, it mocks the open government law.</p><p>Even if state law allowed Robinson to charge $160 an hour to prepare a public document for release -- and that's certainly arguable -- there's nothing that says he has to, or that he should.</p><p>And, nothing says that the City Commission has to let him get away with it.</p><p>Eric Ernst's column runs Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Contact him at eric.ernst@heraldtribune.com or (941) 486-3073.</p>